Dempsey’s Quick Strike Not Enough In Sounders FC Loss

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Remember how good Sounders FC looked in their 3-0 takedown of the New England Revolution? In case you’d already forgotten, they looked awesome. That’s a good team, New England! You know who’s not a good team? The San Jose Earthquakes. Seattle played San Jose yesterday. The result was a disappointing 3-2 loss.

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Clint Dempsey got things off to a thrilling start with the fastest-ever goal in Sounders FC history. Think about eighteen seconds – that’s nothing! You think of the first eighteen seconds of a match and you’re thinking maybe a few passes, just trying to move the ball forward.

For Dempsey it went kickoff, eighteen seconds, goal celebration. The Sounders’ first attack reached the goal in no time, and after a series of crosses, the ball bounced off the hands of goaltender David Bingham. Dempsey was right there, and sent it to the net with his head.

Staked to an early lead against a crummy team, things were looking good for Seattle. But then came San Jose captain Chris Wondolowski with an easy goal on a cross from the corner. It was a frustrating goal because he was surrounded by rave green, yet still had enough time to settle himself and take a hard shot from short range. It didn’t even go in at the corner! Barely thirteen minutes after taking the lead, the Sounders were back where they started.

Wondolowski scored again early in the second half to give San Jose a 2-1 lead, but Seattle got a big boost four minutes later when Earthquakes defenseman Victor Bernardez left the match with a red card. But even with the man advantage, Seattle couldn’t stop San Jose forward Innocent Emeghara from scoring in the 70th minute.

Obafemi Martins did his thing late in the game, surging to the goal and scoring in the 84th minute. This sent Sounders FC into a frenzy as they set off to find that elusive equalizer. Ultimately the clock won out and Seattle had to settle for a hard home loss. They fall to 1-1 on the season.

The next MLS action for Seattle comes on the road against Dallas FC on March 28th at 5:30pm PST. If you need some Sounders action to tide you over in the meantime, they’re also playing a friendly against Club Tijuana on Tuesday. Even though it doesn’t count in the standings it would still be nice to see the Sounders nab a win, if only for the sake of an emotional rebound.